Timeline: Seeking asylum in Australia

In the 1970s and 1980s Australia accepted thousands of Vietnamese boat people.

But since then the law and public sentiment has changed. The Australian government now implements a policy of mandatory detention for all illegal immigrants, including unaccompanied children.

Yet recent events -- such as boats full of asylum seekers being denied entry and an uprising at Woomera, a remote detention center -- has divided the nation.

Here is a brief timeline of the illegal immigration situation in Australia to date.

1994 -- Nine detention centers are set up in Australia.

1997 -- The U.N. Human Rights Committee calls the policy of mandatory detention "Australia's continuing shame" in a report of the same name.

1998 -- Amnesty International condemns mandatory detention as a breach of international human rights. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission also slams the policy.

March 2000 -- The Australian government estimates that one-third of all boats trying to bring people illegally to Ashmore Reef, north of Australia, did not arrive.

2001 -- An Australian parliamentary committee recommends a time limit be put on detention and calls for an upgrade of camp conditions. The U.N. High Commission for Refugees calls Australia's mandatory detention policy "draconian."

April 2001 -- Refugee detention centers are hit by a fresh wave of rioting by detainees.

June 2001 -- Australia's Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock tours Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam amid a surge in the number of people entering Australia illegally through organized criminal gangs.

June 11, 2001 -- Seven illegal immigrants from the Middle East escape from a detention center into the Australian Outback.

June 15, 2001 -- Australian Federal Police intercept a boat carrying 231 suspected illegal immigrants from the Middle East off Christmas Island.

July 2001 -- A report from the Australian Institute of Criminology finds that people smuggling has become much more sophisticated.

July 19, 2001 -- Twenty-three men escape from the Villawood Immigration Detention Center, western Sydney through a drainage system beneath a makeshift mosque. Another 23 cut their way out through fences three days later.

July 31, 2001 -- A court in Australia's northwest sentences five Indonesian men to a total of 21 years in jail for smuggling people from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Each passenger paid between $4,000 and $5,000 for the trip.

August 14, 2001 --The Australian Customs Service boards an Indonesian vessel, carrying 60 would-be immigrants and four crew members, off Ashmore Island, in the far northwest.

August 21, 2001 -- Another 250 people, believed to be asylum seekers, arrive by boat at Ashmore Island.

August 23, 2001 -- Australia's opposition Labor party pledges to set up a coastguard to crack down on people smugglers if it wins a year-end election.

August 27, 2001 -- A Norwegian cargo vessel -- the Tampa -- arrives near Christmas Island with 433 asylum seekers. Both Indonesia and Australia initially refuse to allow the ship to enter their waters.

September 4, 2001 -- The Australian Federal Police arrests four Indonesians on people-smuggling charges related to Tampa incident.

September 5 -- The tiny Pacific island of Nauru as well as New Zealand and Papua New Guinea prepared themselves for entry of asylum seekers, who were denied permission to land on the Australian territory of Christmas Island.

October 18, 2001 -- An Indonesian ferry sinks, killing more than 350 people, mainly Iraqis. Although the final destination of the ferry was unknown, many believe it was headed for Australia.

November 10, 2001 -- Australian Prime Minister John Howard's coalition government wins a third term in power. Some say the government's tough policy on immigration ensured Howard's return.

November 20, 2001 -- Trouble engulfs the Woomera detention center in South Australia. Illegal immigrants set fires and try to destroy buildings.

December 11, 2001 -- The tiny Pacific nation of Nauru agrees to increase its intake of asylum seekers for processing in exchange for $5.15 million (Aust. $10 million) in development aid from Australia.

December 18, 2001 -- Woomera detention center is hit by three nights of unrest, with authorities using water cannons to repel up to 60 inmates trying to escape.

January 18, 2002 -- Three young hunger strikers stitch their lips together as part of a protest at Woomera.

January 30, 2002 -- A two-week hunger strike crisis ends thanks to efforts by an independent negotiating team.

Reuters contributed to this report.